Examine the ethical dilemma (conflicting values exist)

• Use your problem solving, decision-making, and critical thinking skills.
• What is the dilemma you are analyzing? Collect as much information about the dilemma as you can, making sure to gather the relevant facts that clearly identify the dilemma. You should be able to describe the dilemma you are analyzing in detail.
• Ascertain exactly what must be decided.
• Who should be involved in the decision making process for this specific case?
• Who are the interested players or stakeholders?
  • Reflect on the viewpoints of these key players as well as their value systems.
  • What do you think each of these stakeholders would like you to decide as a plan of action for this dilemma?
  • How can you generate the greatest good?

Thoroughly comprehend the possible alternatives available

• Use your problem solving, decision-making, and critical thinking skills.
• Create a list of the possible alternatives. Be creative when developing your alternatives. Be open-minded; there is more than one way to reach a goal. Compel yourself to discern at least three alternatives.
• Clarify the alternatives and predict the associated consequences, good and bad, of each potential alternative or intervention.
• For each alternative, ask the following questions:
  • Do any of the principles or rules, such as legal, professional, or organizational, automatically nullify this alternative?
  • If this alternative is chosen, what do you predict as the best-case and worst-case scenarios?
    • Do the best-case outcomes outweigh the worst-case scenario?
    • Could you live with the worst-case scenario?
    • Will anyone be harmed? If so, how will they be harmed?
  • Does the benefit obtained from this alternative overcome the risk of potential harm that it could cause to anyone?

Hypothesize ethical arguments

• Use you problem solving, decision-making, and critial thinking skills.
• Determine which of the five approaches apply to this dilemma.
• Identify the moral principles that can be brought into play to support a conclusion as to what ought to be done ethically in this case or similar cases.
• Ascertain whether the approaches generate converging or diverging conclusions about what ought to be done.

Investigate, compare, and evaluate the arguments for each alternative

• Use you problem solving, decision-making, and critial thinking skills.
• Appraise the relevant facts and assumptions prudently.
  • Is there ambiguous information that must be evaluated?
  • Are there any unjustifable factual or illogical assumptions, or debatable conceptual issues that must be explored?
• Rate the ethical reasoning and arguments for each alternative in terms of their relative significance:
  • 4 = extreme significance
  • 3 = major significance
  • 2 = significant
  • 1 = minor significance
• Compare and contrast the alternatives available against the values of the key players involved.
• Reflect on these alternatives:
  • Does each alternative consider all of the key players?
  • Does each alternative take into account and reflect an interest in the concerns and welfare of all of the key players?
  • Which alternative will produce the greatest good or the least amount of harm for the greatest number of people?
  • Refer to your professional codes of ethical conduct. Do they support your reasoning?

Choose the alternative you would recommend

• Use you problem solving, decision-making, and critial thinking skills.
• Make a decision about the best alternative available.
  • Remember the Golden Rule; does your decision treat others as you would want to be treated?
  • Does your decision take into account and reflect an interest in the concerns and welfare of all of the key players?
  • Does your decision maximize the benefits and minimize the risk for everyone involved?
  • Become your own critic; challenge your decision as you think others might. Use the ethical arguments you predict they would use and defend your decision.
  • Would you be secure enough in your ethical decision-making process, to see it aired on national television or sent out globally over the Internet?
  • Are you secure enough with this ethical decision that you could have allowed your loved ones to observe your decision-making process, your decision and its outcomes?

Act on your chosen alternative

• Use you problem solving, decision-making, and critial thinking skills.
• Formulate an implementation plan delineating the execution of the decision.
  • This plan should be designed to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks.
  • This plan must take into account all of the resources necessary for implementation including personnel and money.
• Implement the plan.

Look at the ethical dilemma and examine the outcomes while reflecting on the ethical decision

• Use you problem solving, decision-making, and critial thinking skills.
• Monitor the implementation plan and its outcomes. It is extremely important to reflect on specific case decisions and evaluate their outcomes in order to evolve your ethical decision making ability.
• If new information becomes available, the plan must be re-evaluated.
• Monitor and revise the plan as necessary.